The use of a visual 3D display and a virtual spectrometer for the teaching of a course in molecular spectroscopy presents new possibilities. All the movements of the molecules are shown along with their relations with their characteristic spectra. The virtual laboratory simulates a true commercial spectrometer as well as a software of recognition. All the students simultaneously follow the laboratory under conditions very close to the reality of a modern industrial laboratory. SummaryTeaching a course in molecular spectroscopy is not an easy task. First, we must use concepts of molecular symmetry to relate the observed spectra to the quantum properties of the molecules, such as the creation or the modification of an electric dipole moment or the quantified energy levels. The visualization of these 3D symmetry properties is not easy, and the use of sticks and ball models has become complicated and obsolete today. Second FTIR spectroscopy now involves very expensive equipment and signal analysers. Teaching laboratories often lack the number of spectrometers required for teaching large groups of students, and, even less, the expensive software to analyze and recognize the spectra. The result is that the students are not trained with modern apparatus and under the conditions normally met in their future work place. Sometimes they are also obliged to apply concepts in the laboratory, which they will learn only later in class. The development of the information and communications technology (ICT) enables us to conceive the teaching of such courses differently. The first problem is easily solved by developing a 3D visual display with the six degrees of freedom which describe the translation and the rotation of the whole molecule. Moreover, the 3N minus six (or five for linear molecule) degrees of freedom of a N atoms molecule can also be illustrated, showing all the movement of the atoms. So we can simulate the normal modes of vibration of a molecule or of a group and correlate them with their spectra. We have done this with the Java 3D language, and using the spectra from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) site. Several molecules were simulated, so that all the symmetry operations are presented, as well as some normal modes of vibration of This paper is freely available as a resource for the optics and photonics education community.
Antiepileptic drugs prescribed in the context of migraine have been reported to be potentially linked with an increased risk of suicidal ideation and behavior. Meta-analyses support the evidence that amongst antiepileptic drugs, Topiramate has the greatest potential for facilitating the occurrence of suicidal ideation and behavior. Studies indicate that this occurs via the increased incidence of mood disorders amongst the population with migraines using Topiramate as a treatment, with a slow and progressive onset of suicidal ideation (if any). We discuss the unique case of a 43-year-old man known to have chronic migraines, who presented with intense rapid-onset suicidal ideation and olfactory hallucinations, three weeks after the introduction of Topiramate for chronic migraines. After a negative extensive investigation panel to rule out common organic diseases, Topiramate was ceased. The suicidal ideation and olfactory hallucinations resolved in less than 24 h without further interventions. This case report highlights that rapid-onset suicidal ideation and olfactory hallucinations could be linked as an unusual side effect to the introduction of Topiramate. The removal of Topiramate from the patient’s pharmacological treatments prevented further psychological distress linked to ego-dystonic suicidal ideation and a resolution of olfactory hallucinations. He was discharged 48 h later.
Virtual laboratories are used to help teaching a course on lasers. The spectral emission of a laser, the Zeeman effect on the laser frequencies, the frequency stabilisation of a laser and the Lamb dip are the subjects chosen to virtually illustrate the properties of a laser. All the laboratories are very close to reality, including possible experimental missteps. The student is under the conditions he can find in the real laboratory and can spend as long as he wishes, at any time. The teacher can track the student via a data base that includes the eventual missteps which the student would have committed. KeywordsVirtual laboratories ; simulation of a laser ; close to the reality ; simulated experimental missteps ; student tracking. SummaryThe École Polytechnique de Montréal being an engineering school, the laboratories take a n i mp o r t a n t p a r t i n e n g i n e e r ' s t r a i n i n g a n d p a r t i c u l a r l y u n d e r s t a n d i n g a l l t h e p h e n o me n a involved in the operation of a laser is made easier by the use of laboratories. However a good laboratory, modern and complete, is expensive. Moreover, in the case of a laboratory concerning lasers, it is important that the student has, at the time of making the laboratory, all the piece of information and the understanding necessary for a good learning. It follows from this that we frequently do not have a sufficient number of set-ups to satisfy at the students at the good time. One can easily imagine that the creation of virtual laboratories could solve this problem : they can be as numerous as there are computer stations, they can be carried out anywhere and at any moment, they may be amortized quickly, and, the last but not least, they are unbreakable. However, nothing can replace the reality of a true laboratory : giving the hands-on experience, facing experimental missteps, and so on. In developing virtual laboratories, we must thus try to simulate reality as much as possible. This is what we have done with the virtual laboratories used in the course "Introduction to lasers" of the École Polytechnique de Montréal. We have simulated real equipment which exists at the École Polytechnique, with all the actual conditions of operation. For all of them, the interface is as close as possible to reality : all appear as they really are, their operation and connections between them are simulated and many common experimental missteps are possible. The student experiments conditions of the real experiment, except for the fact that he cannot break the apparatus or operate it under extreme conditions. This paper is freely available as a resource for the optics and photonics education community.
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